Shadows and Ash Chapter 27: Sunk, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 27, everybody! In which there was an error last chapter—I got an error message when I submitted the chapter, but when I refreshed the page it had showed up, so I didn't give it any more thought. Found the error the next day when I saw that it had never changed the update date and sent out the alert (I didn't even get one), so apologies for that. ^^;

In other news: write to Fox and complain about them cancelling Sleepy Hollow.

Nohm the Inexorable, thanks for the review! I know—darn errors. Aha, thank you, glad you like it so far. :D Oh wow, that's amazing. :D

Ardtornismyname, thanks for the review! Soon….

Kisame Hoshigaki, thanks for the review! I'll think about it. And yes, well….

Reaper, thanks for the review! I might up the update schedule depending on how ahead I stay on writing this, probably after I finish some of the other fanfics I have going (which I need to finish up and update). Aha, the reason I started writing this was because I wasn't fully satisfied with the Pokémon fics I had been reading—as you say, it seems that all the good ones don't update on a regular basis (and Darkrai needs more love).

Thor94, thanks for the review! Yep—especially considering I had basically nixed the trade that was the initial reason Ash stayed. Me too….

Laugh-a-lot, thanks for the review! Thank you, glad you took a chance on this! :D Yes, Frenzy is definitely something.

Jakeroo123, thanks for the review! No, we're never given a reason for why he bailed on everyone—he is lucky, but I can't help but wonder if some dissatisfied customers hunted him down later. Oh dear….Makes you wonder how Team Rocket keeps going, if that's the case….

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

New on the PPN—The New Adventures of Zubatman! Tune in to see one costumed crime-fighter's never-ending war on crime! Watch as he fights a colorful cast of villains! Thrill at the pows and socks and bams! Tune in tonight—only on the PPN: the Pokémon Planet Network.

Darkrai wasn't the sort to try for tanning, but this Port Vista place made it very tempting.

He had raised quite a bit of Cain over in Vermilion, and had moved on shortly after—he didn't need the local gym leader trying to track him down.

But a sleepy little tourist-trap like Port Vista was perfect—or at least, it would be, if it weren't for all the Pokémon Rangers loitering around. Joy. He didn't have fond memories of Rangers.

Hence why he was hiding in an old attic for a closed store, trying to determine where to go to next. He had almost decided and was already making plans to skedaddle when he noticed a troupe of police officers run by. What, did they know he was here already?

A Pokémon Ranger ran up.

"We've got the life raft!" the Ranger said. "I'm getting some paramedics—they're dehydrated!"

"We got the message," the lead officer said, waving the others on. "Are you sure it's from the Anne?"

"The life raft says so—one of the passengers says the Anne sunk."

Darkrai blinked. That didn't mean anything—nooo. No one said that everyone didn't get off—

"He probably didn't," Darkrai muttered. "His luck is indeed that bad."

"Ash? Ash! Wake up!"

Ash jolted upright, then instantly regretted it.

"Ow, he muttered, rubbing his back. "What happened? I feel like a Rhyhorn sat on me."

"That was Brock," Misty said, pointing. "He was on top of you."

"I like how you neglected to mention that you were on top of the both of us," Brock said.

"Uh, guys," Ash noised, ignoring Misty's spluttering. "Why is the ceiling carpeted?"

They looked up. "Uh, Ash," Misty said. "I think that was the floor."

That took a moment to fully sink in.

"Please tell me we aren't flipped over," Ash said finally.

Brock looked out a nearby porthole. "Uh, I have worse news," Brock said. "Not only are we flipped over—we're sunk, too."

We're sunk.

What a strangely appropriate term for how screwed they were.

Meowth had recovered first, seen their situation, and slapped Jessie and James awake quickly.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jessie demanded, picking Meowth up by the scruff of the neck.

"We're sunk!" Meowth declared. "Look around!"

They did so. "Everything's on the ceiling!" James said.

"Not everyting," Meowth pointed out. "Just da stuff dat was bolted to da floor."

Jessie was up on her feet immediately. "The ship's flipped! And we're stuck on it! And it's all your fault!" she yelled, flinging Meowth at James.

"Hey, hey! Don't throw me!" Meowth yelped.

James caught him and used him as a shield—great. "My fault?" James squawked. "How is this my fault?"

"You blew," Jessie said, pointing and obviously straining to avoid busting a blood vessel. "All three of our advanced salaries…on a stupid Magikarp that is literally worth a dime a dozen!"

"But the guy said it was a Poké-goldmine!" James protested.

"For crooks like him!"

"A Rocket fell fer a swindle," Meowth observed. "Fer shame."

"Well," James said, scrambling upright and tucking Meowth under his arm. "What about that rumor that they evolve into Gyarados? And at the very least, I could sell the Pokéball—it's solid gold!"

"A solid gold Pokéball won't work," Meowth shot. "It's probably just gold-plated!"

"And you are going to try to have the patience to train a Magikarp?" Jessie pointed out, prompting James to hold Meowth up as a shield again. "Face it—you blew all our money and got us stuck in a watery grave!"

That last statement sobered everyone up.

"We can't die here," Meowth sniffled finally. "I'm too young ta die."

"I'm not ready!" James wailed. "Hold me, Meowth!"

"Meowch! You're holding me too tight!"

It was Jessie's turn to employ Doubleslap. "Get a grip, you two!" she scolded.

"He's got a grip—on me!" Meowth complained.

"We won't get anywhere sniveling like this," Jessie observed, pulling her Pokéball out. "We've got to try to escape! Go, Ekans! Use Acid on the ceiling!"

Ekans appeared and obeyed with a hiss.

"If we're flipped, that means that up is down!" Jessie observed. "So we go through the floor and get out of here!"

"Wait, don't!" Meowth yelped.

Ekans made it through—

And water started flooding in.

"We're probably in an air pocket!" Meowth said. "And punching more holes in the hull ain't gonna help us!"

"We have to leave!" James yelled.

But the water was too powerful, and the room was quickly flooded.

A cat drowning, Meowth thought.

Water way to go.

He spent the entire time drifting after the rescue boat trying to convince himself that it was just morbid curiosity that was driving him out here.

What was he doing?

But it was getting dark now, and the head Jenny was checking her radio.

"They checked the roster," she called, prompting the workers to look up—at her; no one bothered to scan the skies, which had suited Darkrai just fine. "Everyone's accounted for except for five people—and from the looks of it, they went down with the ship."

She disappeared down into the boat and returned with a bouquet of flowers. Darkrai wondered just why she had a fresh bouquet handy, then reflected that maybe she was as morbid as he was.

"We hereby commemorate the lives of five trainers cut short," she declared as someone played appropriately somber music. "Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty had such promising careers. They will be missed by all." She threw the bouquet over the side and turned back to the crew, waving them back to work and ordering them to return to shore. Darkrai wouldn't have been surprised if she had said Well, that was fun! Who's up for Kantonese?

He watched as they left, reflecting on the news. So the kid was dead. Big whoop.

So why wasn't he leaving?

He can't be dead, he found himself thinking. He's too stupid to die.

Well…there was one way to be certain.

He extended his senses down, seeking sleep patterns. If they were dead, then they wouldn't register….

But if the egg wasn't drowned, then there was a chance they weren't, either.

And there was that egg.

What was he doing? He was trying to get away from this kid! And it didn't bother him if humans died!

Except….

He sighed and swore. "You owe me big time, kid."

He swooped up and then dived, aiming for a shadow that required perfect timing.

If you're still alive, I'm going to kill you if I get wet.